Do you know the pumpkin parable? I first heard it on Sunday morning. I have elaborated on it and want to share it with you. There once was a farmer who loved his farm. He grew corn, potatoes, tomatoes, squash, strawberries, chickens, sheep and pumpkins. Every day he would walk through his garden to watch over his plants and feed his animals. One day, some people from the near-by village stomped through his garden and uprooted some of his plants. They threw squash at the chickens, chased the sheep out of their pens, and rolled some large pumpkins on to the dirt paths after writing bad words on them with mud. The next morning, the saddened farmer began to clean up. As he fixed the chicken coop and replanted the squash and tried to stand the corn upright, he realized the towns people who had destroyed things were strangers who saw no value in his farm. For that reason, the farmer, who was a good man, set out to make friends with them. First, the farmer took some of pumpkins inside his home where he washed them, removed the tops, the seeds and the rest of the insides. After a while, the seeds were dry and he roasted and salted them. Later, he cut up the fleshy shell and baked pies, cookies, sugar loaf bread, and taking some brown sugar, mixed it with the orange pulp, and molded it around leftover marshmallows. The farmer made so much food that it overflowed from his kitchen into the dining room and out onto the porch. He then took some of his favorite pumpkins, hollowed them out, cut eyes, noses, and smiling faces. Those pumpkins he placed on his porch as an invitation to the townsfolk. As evening fell, he took candles and placed them inside so they would glow. When the people from the village walked by, they saw the lights and came closer. When they smelled the pies and sweet breads, they came even closer. The farmer invited them into his house and they enjoyed a meal together. The next night, the farmer saw a glow from the village. As he walked through the darkened streets, he saw people with pumpkins on their front porches and strangers giving each other greetings and sweet treats. He went home to his farm, sat on his porch, and smiled.